Chris Jericho's reign as the United States Champion has been... underwhelming, to say the very least. When Jericho pinned Roman Reigns to win the US Title for the very first time back on the January 9th edition of RAW, the mood amongst fans was that of elation.
Finally, they thought, now that the United States title had been pried away from Roman Reigns, maybe we will now have a champion who will actually defend the belt, and not simply treat it as a prop or an afterthought. Oh, how wrong we were.
Whilst Jericho has undoubtedly been putting in some of the best work of his entire career over the past few months, the fact remains that he has done absolutely nothing with the US title.
In his near two-month reign, he has defended the belt on TV just twice, with one of these being Roman Reigns' automatic rematch. On top of this, Jericho hasn't been seen on WWE TV in any capacity since Kevin Owens laid him out during the "Festival of Friendship" back in mid-February.
Recently, over on SmackDown! Live, Naomi's maiden Women's title victory was cruelly snatched away from her by an injury, with Daniel Bryan citing her inability to defend the title within a 30-day period as the reason for stripping her of the title.
Surely, by this logic, Chris Jericho is also in danger of having his title taken away. The last time Jericho defended the title was against Sami Zayn on February 11th, meaning that he needs to defend his US title before March 13th, or risk contravening the 30-day rule.
Also read: 5 Reasons why Kevin Owens should defeat Goldberg at Fastlane
Whether or not Jericho does end up losing his title in a regular match or by being stripped of it, there can be no denying that the United States Championship will be a lot healthier around the waist of somebody else. But who might that somebody be?
The RAW roster currently contains ample suitable candidates for the position of US Champion. The first name that springs to mind is Jericho's former best friend, and current WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens.
Owens obviously still has a lot of issues with Jericho that are unresolved, and once Y2J returns to TV, you have to imagine that we'll see the pair clash on numerous occasions.
It would be naive to assume that the US title would be ignored by the man known as "The Prizefighter", and with the rumours swirling regarding KO possibly losing the Universal title to Goldberg at Fastlane, Owens winning the United States Championship in the near future makes quite a lot of sense.
It's a title that Owens has never won before, despite competing for it against John Cena on numerous occasions and this, added to the fact that it currently resides round the waist of his rival, will ensure some extra desire for Owens to capture it.
But beyond Owens, the obvious choice, who else is in a position where they could take the US title on to better times?
One man who has never won a title on the main roster, but absolutely deserves an opportunity to do so, would be Sami Zayn.
Zayn is an incredibly talented performer who has needed a real storyline ever since his rivalry with Kevin Owens concluded, and a run with the United States title would be something entirely new and exciting for him to sink his teeth into.
Whilst his recent battles with Braun Strowman have exceeded expectations, its time that Zayn ascends the card and moves onto something fresh. A US title reign certainly would fall under that description, while presenting him with an opportunity to look like a bigger star than ever before.
Braun Strowman's name has already popped up, and he should certainly be in the frame for a United States title opportunity very soon. Many people are still not quite on board with Strowman's power-based antics, however, it is undeniable that he has improved immeasurably since his 2015 debut.
Strowman has never had a run with any WWE title and giving him the US title would prepare him well for a possible later run with the Universal title or the WWE Title.
As shown in the case of Roman Reigns, fans tend to reject your push if you are elevated straight into the main event scene without paying your dues further down the card.
Strowman has certainly done this now, and taking the US title from Jericho may be the shot in the arm he needs to get fans fully invested in his character so that he can make the transition from potential Superstar to main event contender as smoothly as it can possibly be.
Basically, the United States title has been in ill health ever since John Cena lost the belt to Alberto Del Rio. What it desperately needs, at this point in time, is a Champion who will raise its prestige and ensure that everybody on RAW wants to take them on and attempt to become US Champion themselves.
The Champion makes the title, so the old saying goes, and Chris Jericho has unfortunately made nothing of his time with the gold. Time to switch things up and give the WWE Universe a new United States Champion.
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